Columbus Marathon 2012 Race Report - Part 2

If you missed it, you can find Part 1 here.

I left you with not being able to sleep through the night before the big day.

Sunday October 21, 2012
The alarm went off at 5AM. The clock/radio thing at the hotel was actually an iPod doc, which was way cool. You could set the alarm to either buzzer, radio or iPod! I set the alarm to go off at 5AM to Adele's Rolling in the Deep. This song became our "race song" when we heard it on the way to the Cleveland Half Marathon in May 2011. It was kind of cool waking up to it, knowing that I would be completing my first marathon later that day!

We all got up pretty easily. Nobody wanted to eat, but we all choked down our small breakfasts of granola bars (the girls) or trail mix (me). Funny. For a girl who ALWAYS wants to eat - it just takes getting ready for a marathon at 5AM to not want to eat at all! We all got dressed and ready to go (this included getting lubed up with body glide and Vaseline in all the appropriate places to prevent chafing during a nice 26.2 mile jaunt). Pictures were taken in the hotel room and then we gathered all our stuff to check out. We could have gotten late check out, but the "complimentary late check out" was only until 1 and I knew I would still be running then! Adrienne and SIL put their bags in the car and I checked mine at the front desk since I'd be going home with my family. Check out was a breeze - nobody was in line. Guess most people probably opted for late check out.

And that's only HALF of the people since the other half were around the corner

We had to be in the corrals by 7AM for the 7:30 AM start. A little excessive?? I think so. On the way into the corrals we had probably 3 photographers take our picture (if/when I purchase them I'm sure I'll post them). That was kind of fun and some of them actually came out pretty good! Then, we made it ALL the way back to our corral F (the last one). In this sea of 18,000 people I had to try to spot Sarah, who I hadn't seen in over 11 years! Amazingly enough I FOUND her and we chatted with SIL and Adrienne while we waited for the start.

I didn't mention anything about the "Patient Champions" in this post. But, each mile was dedicated to a child from the Children's hospital. This was Parker's Lego Mile. It was in the 'Shoe and they asked runners to put a Lego piece on this board. I'm sure lots of people couldn't be bothered,  but I LOVED every minute of it!

The way they have the set up at the start line in Columbus is a little different. The corrals make a sharp turn at corral D. So you have ABC, then turn and DEF. As a result, those of us back in F could not hear anything that was happening at the start line. All of the sudden a loud BOOM rocks every one of the 18,000 runners waiting to start. But, then the line still wasn't moving. Eventually there would be 2 more booms and we were off!

Thanks for the warning!



If you're not familiar with big races, it takes about 20-30 minutes for the people in the back to actually reach the start line! That's why it's so nice they have the "chip timing" because if my time were based on when the "gun" went off, I'd appear EVEN slower (if that's possible)! So, about 21 minutes later, I was crossing the start line and off to tackle 26.2 miles.

Sarah and I immediately started chatting and catching up on the last 11+ years. I can't express how awesome it was to have her by my side for that first part of the race. She did most of the talking, but I held my own! :) She helped me up the inclines and kept me moving at a good pace. Before I knew it, I was giving her a hug and saying goodbye.

Columbus claims to do this "second start line" for the full marathoners at mile 13. What it does and makes it that much more painfully obvious that hardly any people keep going for the full (especially when having taken almost 3 hours to do the half). All of the sudden I felt completely alone. But then I heard someone yell Kim and I looked and screamed! It was Megan! She wasn't supposed to meet me until mile 19. I got overly excited, but she said she was just saying hi and would meet me at 19. I was doing great at that point so I said GREAT!

And there's the steep hill....entering the 'Shoe!

And then the LONG trek between miles 13 and 19 began. The next 3ish miles were straight UP High Street (in more ways that one). In some ways it was THE most boring part of the race; but in others I was interested at looking all around to see what I remembered from grad school. Turns out...not much! I did remember my friend's apartment building when I passed that!

So COOL! As you can see, most of the pictures I took were in the 'Shoe, so that's what you've got!

It was at some point between 16 and 17 that I first started to struggle. My stomach started revolting. I took some extra walk breaks. But, in all of this, I never got upset. I didn't cry. I was concerned about my stomach since it was very similar to the stomach pains I get with my Crohn's. I was focusing on finding a porta potty and deciding if I really needed it. I can't remember in which sequence this happened, but at some point during this time I saw SIL and Adrienne coming in the opposite direction! It was excited and we all gave high 5's. I was still focused on my stomach though. Then (or perhaps before), I saw a mile marker that had an 18 on it. I got all excited because I swear I couldn't remember the 17. I was totally confused. I looked at my Garmin and that said 16.94 (or something like that) so I was even MORE confused. And, then, I saw it....the mile 17 marker just ahead. Ugh. That 18 mile marker was on the opposite side of the road. That was a little defeating, but I knew I was about to go into the 'Shoe so I was excited! (That's the Ohio Stadium where the Buckeyes play if you're not aware).

I took my phone out to take pictures through the 'Shoe. The nice thing about being slow is that I really didn't care about taking the time to take pictures. I was taking EVERY minute in during this entire race! I was able to ignore my stomach by being distracted in the 'Shoe. Then, I was finally at the actual 18 mile mark and knew I only had 1 more mile before I met Megan. I was struggling, but still moving and still doing most of my intervals. I was probably walking a little more than scheduled, but I can't really remember.

I met up with Megan and things almost immediately went downhill. What's interesting though, is that for as difficult as it got, my MOOD never altered. I struggled. I wanted to be done. I was in serious pain. I physically couldn't run anymore at one point. But; I WAS SMILING! I was loving every. single. minute. of this experience. I knew that I was going to finish 26.2 miles and that was all I cared about. I knew I had completed the first half fast enough (thanks Sarah) to finish in under 7 hours even if I walked the rest of the way (which I wasn't planning on doing). I even knew that as long as I could keep pushing, I could finish in under 6:30.

I must have started clapping when I saw my family! I love my mom's hand in the corner of the pic.

I think I was somewhere after mile 25, and all of the sudden the 6:30 pacer team (walkers) came up behind me! It was just what I needed to get my butt moving. But, it didn't last very long. It literally hurt too much to run. I decided that since I was SO close it didn't really matter if I let them pass me. Finishing at 6:35 was still finishing 26.2. Turns out those ladies weren't great pacers because they did finish before me (my mom said probably 10 minutes before me); and since my OFFICIAL finish time was 6:28:55, I finished in under 6:30! :)

And that captures it right there. Thanks Dad!

Anyway, that last 1.5 miles were the LONGEST in my life. I have no idea how long they took me, but it felt like forever. Every time I tried to run I couldn't so I tried to walk fast. That didn't really work either. They have a flag with 1/2 mile on it...and that was terrible. I passed that flag and felt like I should be seeing the 26 flag...and I wasn't...and it sucked. But then. I saw it. And I couldn't believe it. I was almost done. I reached the flag and gave Megan the biggest hug ever. I turned the corner, felt the downhill under my feet and started running. I felt like I was FLYING. In that moment nothing hurt. I wasn't tired. I could breathe. IT. WAS. AWESOME!!! I looked to my left and saw Heather, SIL and Adrienne (and other people, but those were the only ones I noticed). But, I was distracted because at the same time, I saw that my husband, kids and parents were to my right. I worked my way over to my family and gave them all high 5's...but I was on a mission. I saw the clock. I saw that if I could cross that line in the next few SECONDS, I would meet my goal. I ran with everything I had left. I crossed that finish line and the clock said 6:49:xx. I was CONFIDENT I finished in under 6:30 (and, obviously, later found out I was right).

OMG..I just PASSED 2 people at the end...let's not even discuss the fact that they're wearing winter coats while running/walking a marathon!

I got my medal; my space blanket; my picture taken; and I went to the food area. I grabbed my chocolate milk and food and started walking to get to my family.

It was a day I will NEVER forget. I have never been more proud or amazed at myself.

For thinking I didn't have much to say about the day, I certainly found my words! ;)

And, as you can imagine. I have SO much more to say after a few days of reflecting. But that will come in another post!

Columbus Marathon 2012 Race Report - Part 1

I am still basking in my runner's high! I'm having a hard time thinking about how to put all of this into words. In some ways I feel like I don't have a lot to say....and then I remember who I am and realize this is going to be a novel of a post! I am going to try to stay ON topic though and not put in post-race thoughts...those can go in a separate post! And, after starting this post, I realize that I'm probably going to end up breaking it into 2 posts anyway!

Saturday October 20, 2012
I woke up today at around 6:30, looked at my clock and thought...ugh..I am NOT waking up this early on the Saturday before my marathon! So, I went back to sleep, but shouldn't have! It was in that moment I had the dreaded nightmare about the marathon. It all revolved around getting to the Expo on time and picking up my packet. I won't go into details (because they didn't make sense anyway), but I woke up before knowing if I made it to the Expo or not.

Fast forward to around 11AM when I get a text from SIL indicating that we would have to move our departure time back due to a conflict with a kid schedule. The panic ever so slightly sets in, but I try to stay calm and rational. We'll still have PLENTY of time to get to the Expo.

We left Adrienne's house by probably about 2. I'm not sure. I was trying not to really pay attention to the time at this point. I'm guessing it was 2 because we arrived to Westerville at about 4 to drop Adrienne's husband off before heading downtown to our hotel and the Expo. After leaving Westerville I was feeling pretty good about getting to the Expo....until we hit the traffic! Ugh. We were all starting to get quite anxious. We FINALLY parked the car a little after 5PM. 2 hours left for the Expo.


Super cool pic...thanks to SIL. Our feet at the Expo.

 It was decided that we would go straight to the Expo because we all just wanted to have our race packets in hand so we could relax a little! Turns out I picked the most perfect hotel, as it was ATTACHED to the Convention Center where the Expo was AND it was quite close to the FINISH line.




Adrienne and SIL

I was surprised when we went into the Expo that it was still pretty crowded. We had to walk upstairs to pick up our packets and the nice thing about being so late is that there were NO lines to get our packets. Apparently all the people who were there were just shopping! With packets in hand we could now breathe a sigh of relief. So, now it was time to SHOP! 
 I warned the girls that I came prepared to SPEND! ;) I had no superstitions about buying 26.2 stuff. The way I saw it was that, if for some strange reason I didn't finish tomorrow, I would try again. There is no way I would shelve this distance and never try it again. The only REAL risk was the cool jacket I bought. However, it didn't specify marathon since it has "& half marathon" on it as well. Besides, I was feeling very confident that I would finish.

After leaving the Expo we were trying to decide what to do about dinner. By now we were all pretty hungry. As soon as the car was parked it was decided that nobody was going anywhere that night unless we were walking! We went to the hotel restaurant and the wait was about 30 minutes. We decided to just go back to the room and splurge on room service. Our dinner was ordered and we just vegged the rest of the night. Dinner was actually quite yummy. I was in the mood for a big cheeseburger and fries and that's exactly what I got. I didn't feel the need for pasta since I had spent the last few days loading up on my carbs as well.

So, dinner was had, a shower was taken, and it was basically time for bed. The night took FOREVER. I saw every hour except from 2-3AM. I was hot all night (I hate hotel rooms) and I was just ready to DO this thing!

To be continued.....

SPOILER ALERT

I am not going to do my entire race report tonight for the Columbus Marathon 2012 because I'm too freaking tired.

But, I'm also not going to leave you in suspense. I will be putting that magnet on my car tomorrow and was able to wear that FINISHER'S jacket this evening!!!! Not only that, but I did, in FACT, meet the goal that I really set out to meet - finish in less than 6 hours and 30 minutes. Official time: 6:28:55!!! I have lots to say about this marathon and still need it all to sink in. But, for now, I'm just going to go enjoy my WINE! :)

Making My List....

Ummm...that's a LONG freaking way to run!

Pretty soon I'm going to be counting down the HOURS to the big day. As I've said before, I can't believe it's finally here.

I decided last night to make a list of the things that I needed to pack to be sure I don't forget anything. I posted on Facebook that I was making this list and asked for suggestions of things that I should be sure to remember. Here were some of the responses:



Sure there is...26.2!

Shoes, Socks, Clothes, Ponytail holders, Positive Attitude!

Confidence, Determination, You can do it!

DRUGS for after

Faith

Sneakers x2

The love and support of your family.

GREAT answers! I was truly expecting people to list things like shoes, Garmin, fuel belt, etc. But, really, what it comes down to is all the things that people DID suggest. Believing in myself. Being confident that I did everything necessary to cross that finish line. Thinking that I CAN!





So, as a result, I'm going to make today's post FULL of inspirational quotes that will help me get to that finish line.

I need to always remember that it doesn't matter how slow it is. It's 26.2 miles...no matter what way you slice it. It could take me 7 hours or 5 hours, but it's still 26.2 miles. Clearly, progress has been made even if I sometimes forget that fact.

I just love this one. However, the little girl on the bottom looks like she's FLYING...so perhaps I don't look like that either.

Yes. Perseverance is the key. If I persevere, I will attain an unimaginable goal!

Yup...you'll continue to see slow-themed motivational quotes all over my blog. They help me to remember that it truly doesn't matter. At least I'm doing it.

I think if I were to stop to stand still, I'd never get going again. So, yes, no fear in moving slowly as long as one foot is going in front of the other and making a forward motion....I'm GOOD.

And this is why I DO feel pretty confident I will cross that finish line and I will do so in less than 7 hours (the cutoff). If nothing else, I am persistent. I may not be persistent with my diet, but when it comes to my activity goals, I ALWAYS meet them. I decided to conquer a half marathon in 2009 simply because it was for a good cause and sounded like a good challenge to help motivate me to lose weight. The cut-off was 4 hours so that was my goal.....cross the line in 4 hours or less. I did it...in 3:20:xx. After then completing another half marathon in 2011, I decided that it was time to tackle the triathlon. And, I did that. There was no cut off time, but I crossed that finish line. Now, in 2012, I set my sights on an Olympic Triathlon and Marathon. One of those has been checked off my list - having again, met my goals. There is no way I'm going to fail now. I WILL cross that finish line...and I WILL do it in less than 7 hours. I will even, possibly (although this one I'm not going to be quite as confident about) cross that finish line in less than 6:30....only time will tell.

And that time is now....T-42ish HOURS!

Anticipation

Busy weekend..Mary has a field trip and sleepover Fri night...Robbie's doc appt Saturday...oh..and what's that on Sunday???

T-4 days!! Talk about anticipation.

I've been checking the weather every day and getting more and more nervous about race day. The weather started out perfect - mid-50's and partly cloudy. What made me nervous about that was that if it was forecasted to be THAT perfect 9 days out, it was inevitable that it would somehow change.

And it did. Sidenote - I really need to learn how to do screenshots for the blog so I can be all cool and put in the screenshot of the weather.com forecast!

So now it is forecasted to be 67 and sunny with 0% chance of rain. And Monday is supposed to be 75, which means that it's possible that it'll be THAT warm on Sunday. Most of you are probably thinking "what's the problem, Kim? 75 and sunny is an absolutely perfect day!" And yes, yes it is. It's a great day for doing many things outside - like perhaps SPECTATING a marathon. However, when you are preparing to run/walk for over 6 HOURS, 75 is a freakin HEAT wave! It's only 10 degrees cooler than the weather during the Cleveland Marathon that was "red flagged" by the end of the race.

(Red flagged is when it becomes hot enough that they feel the need to warn people of the risks of continuing. Black flagged is when they completely stop the race and you are DONE no matter where you are - including within a mile from the finish)

Cue some more freaking out! Sure. It'll be what it is. I'll be fine. A lot of my training runs were done in the heat. Yadda Yadda. But, it's inevitable that I'll freak out about something leading up to the marathon - so this is it! Of course, this is also screwing up my outfit choice. Now I have to rethink what I'm going to wear. No biggie though. I will make no new changes before the big day so I will only choose from things I have trained in.

It is absolutely crazy that this day is almost here. I've been thinking about and training for this day since (at least) March! Were there things I would have done differently throughout my training? Absolutely. Have I learned things for the future (whatever that may be)? Of course! Am I proud of myself for all that I have accomplished? AbsoFRICKENlutely! I am more and more confident that I will cross that finish line in less than 7 hours (the official cutoff). I secretly would like to finish in under 6:30...totally doable since my average pace for my 21 mile run was around 14:28 min/mile. They say that you "should" train slower than you actually race. So, perhaps I have some hope that my average for the race can be closer to a 14 min/mile...and that would amount to a finish just over 6 hours. BUT! Having said all that...I am going to embrace my FINISH no matter what time! As long as I cross that finish line before 6:59:59 I will have completed my first marathon! And I am fairly confident I can do that - no matter what the weather.

I just like to think of it this way..the slower I do my "first" marathon, the easier it makes it to PR at my next one! ;) HA! That's a joke....kind of. I have no idea if or when I might attempt this crazy goal again!

One Week

Today marks 7 days....one week to the full marathon! O.M.G. I am freaking out a little over here.

Taken from the Columbus Marathon Facebook Page...I'll be somewhere in there on 10/21/12!

I'm trying to work on a post labeled 26.2 thoughts, but I feel like I'm just repeating myself over and over again. Perhaps it won't make for an interesting post! Anyway...we'll see if that one ever gets published.

Today is also Sunday so I went back to Weight Watchers today to get weighed in. As I'm sure you remember, by last weigh in was 2 weeks ago and was UP 4.2lbs. I wasn't too concerned over that 4.2 because I knew the cause of it. I ate and drank too much the entire week. I pretty much stopped tracking before I started, which is NEVER a good thing. Last week I didn't go to my meeting because I had the 10k. What I did do, however, was get on my scale before going to the race. BIG mistake! According to my scale I was UP AGAIN! I was NOT happy because I had done the program to a T all that week. I couldn't just let it go, so when I got home from the race (after having ran, ate and drank water), I weighed myself again. This time the scale was down 6lbs from earlier. Clearly my scale is NOT accurate and I need to STOP! Did I learn though?? Nope. Today, before going out for my run and meeting, I got on the scale. Again, it gave me a # that was WAY high. So, I chose to ignore it. Official results on the WW scale?? DOWN 5.8 in the last 2 weeks! That brings me to a total of 12.6lbs lost. That's good. I'm a little upset with myself because I didn't reach my lofty weight goal for the marathon. I'll be closer to it by the marathon, because I'm determined to lose weight this week leading up to the marathon. But, I won't lose another 8lbs this week so I will not have met my goal. I only get frustrated with myself because in the 9 weeks (or however long it's been), I had 3 weeks that I gained or maintained simply because I ate too much. There's nothing I can do about it now, however, and I'm still down 12.6lbs from when I started 9 weeks ago and that's all that really matters. Down is down is down....as long as I weigh less today than I did 9 weeks ago I'm happy.

On another note. GUESS WHAT I DID TODAY??? (don't you just love the excitement??). I went outside and attempted my first 3 mile run with NO walk breaks outside. And I succeeded! It was great! It was a little tough, but really, I probably could have gone farther. I went slow (of course), but ended in 35:46 for an 11:55 minute mile average pace. Frankly right now I am STOKED with anything under a 12 min/mile. After the marathon is over I think I'm really going to start working on my running. I don't need to try to go farther, since I don't plan to EVER go farther than 26.2! I do want to work on getting faster and going farther with no walk breaks.

And....by this time next week I will be finished with 26.2 and will have crossed that finish line with a smile on my face!

Turning a New Leaf

Guess what I did last night???

I got on my treadmill to do my 3 mile run.

Wait...that's not the exciting part...

As I've said before, I started trying to run my short runs with no walk breaks back at the end of August. Last night I wasn't really feeling the run (am I ever??), so I had decided that I would try to do speed intervals to help things feel like they go faster. I find one of the things I really enjoy about my run/walk intervals is that it truly helps make it feel like the time is going by faster. When you're only focusing on 4 minutes or 1 minute at a time, before you know it it's been 5 HOURS! :) Anyway, so I wanted to keep with my running without stopping for any run under 5 miles at this point (since I conquered 4 miles a couple weeks ago). I decided I would warm up for 5 minutes and then do 1 minute speed intervals.

Here's what it looked like:

5 minutes at 5.0 (12 min/mile)
1 minute at 6.0 (10 min/mile)
1 minute at 5.0
1 minute at 6.1
1 minute at 5.0
1 minute at 6.2
1 minute 5.0
1 min 6.3
1 min 5.0
1 min 6.0

At this point I decided 6.3 was pretty tough and I didn't want to push myself TOO hard because I really wanted to keep these intervals up for 3 miles. So, I continued at the 5.0/6.0 interval until I hit 29 minutes. From 29-30 minutes I ran at 6.5 (I think that's a 9:13 minute/mile). Then, I slowed down to 5.0 for one minute and then at 31 minutes put the speed back up to 6.0 - I left it there until I was at 2.9 miles. I then sprinted at 6.5 to the finish. I finished 3 miles in 32:46!! That is a 10:55 minute/mile on average! And, that, my friends is INTERVALS in the sense that "real" runners use them. Sure, other people may do faster intervals (6.0 being their "recovery" pace and 7-10 being their "sprints"), but the fact of the matter is I did them and I did them while running the ENTIRE 3 miles without taking a walk break. To confess, I did jump off the treadmill for about 30 seconds somewhere in there to catch my breath, but that was IT!

I'm trying to turn this new leaf of being positive. So, this was an awesome run! I was good and sweaty at the end of it and I am STOKED that I saw a 10 at the start of my average pace. I have 11 days until the marathon and I need to really work on staying positive and upbeat.

On a side note - I've got to get better at this blogging stuff. Some posts have lots of pictures I can add, which, to me, make it MUCH more fun to read. But, others (like this one) just don't have any good pictures. Hmm...I need to get more creative or something. A work in progress....that is my life!

And, with that, I'll leave you with a "short" post today! Enjoy!